Letter from Lonnie O’Bryan

Re: Transfer Station Complaints

Recently, a resident of Cooperstown wrote in with concerns about the appearance and operations of the Otsego County Northern Transfer Station located in Cooperstown. The station, as pointed out in the letter, is managed by Casella.

As the division manager of Casella’s Oneonta Hauling Division and Transfer Stations in Otsego and Schoharie, I take great pride in our facilities and feel as though we do an outstanding job representing the very best of our county. We are your friends, neighbors, and relatives and we work hard to serve all of you. When it doesn’t meet your standards, you can be sure that it is not meeting ours.

I do want to take a moment to address a few items. First, we have recently hired a new employee who has done a great job in getting the Cooperstown site into great shape and we continue to receive compliments on the work he has been doing there. More work needs to be done, and we are committed to bringing this facility up to both your expectations and our standards. Second, with regard to litter along the fence, admittedly this has been a struggle with the wind. We have been trying to hire someone to serve in this role and have had to rely on other staff members to take care of this in addition to their regular duties, which is no small task. At no point do we expect the County Board to take on this role.

Most importantly, I want the community to know that all your recyclable material is being recycled. Your recycling goes into a covered dumpster and then into the recycling transfer trailer. As a company, in 2021 we were responsible for managing more than 1.2 million tons of recyclable material, including 700,000 tons of household, commercial and industrial recycling. Here in Otsego County, we are steadfast in our commitment to recycling. Our recycling audits are consistently among the best in the county and we continue to work with our customers to ensure that it remains that way.

I’d also encourage anyone from the community who has questions or concerns to contact me directly. Let’s work together on solutions.

For more information on how recycling works, and how you can help be a part of the solution to ensure we all recycle more and recycle better, please visit www.casella.com/recycling-works and www.casella.com/recyclebetter.

Lonnie O’Bryan
Oneonta Division Manager, Casella Waste Systems, Inc.